


Fright Knight

by DCFanGuy



Category: Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 10:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21251834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DCFanGuy/pseuds/DCFanGuy
Summary: Halloween story, told in vignette form with Catwoman, Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin all sharing a different adventure they had with Batman on that night. Set in the continuity of The New Batman Adventures.





	Fright Knight

Halloween Night was a scary night, especially in Gotham City as it was the perfect ground for all kinds of menace in the night.

After apprehending Clayface, Batman made sure that he escorted Commissioner Gordon to Arkham to ensure that the villain, currently frozen with a fast acting cement and would be put in a special room where escape should be impossible. Then again, this was Arkham.

On a rooftop overlooking the city, Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin found themselves at a loss. Following their encounter with Clayface, the rest of the night had been disappointingly quiet. Citizens were too busy attending fancy parties dressed in their finest costumes or staying in with their loved one.

Even the baddies seemed to be taking the night off. The Joker had vacated Gotham, the Penguin seemed to be keeping his nose clean by making sure that his nightclub was a legitimate business for the time being and even the likes of the Riddler, Two Face, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were suspiciously quiet. There wasn’t even a peep out of the Mad Hatter and this was certainly a night that would’ve appealed to his whimsically dangerous side. 

All three of them gave the other a look that more or less said the same thing. Then an unexpected fourth party actually said the words much to their surprise.

“Bored, huh?”

Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin turned around to see that Catwoman was standing before them perched on the side of the roof.

“So where is the Big Bad Bat tonight?” Catwoman asked.

“Arkham,” Robin replied warily and Catwoman noticed that both Nightwing and Batgirl were looking her up and down. 

“Sorry to disappoint you kids, but I’ve been a good girl, at least for now,” Catwoman smiled. Nightwing scoffed. Batgirl said nothing.

“You know it’s a quiet night when even a cat burglar isn’t in the mood for a heist,” Nightwing said before asking her directly. “Is tonight a night off for the bad guys of this city?”

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone,” Catwoman replied sarcastically before moving towards the trio of sidekicks. “You lot really don’t know what to do with yourselves when you’re not chasing criminals with him.”

“Halloween’s not always this quiet,” Batgirl pondered, before adding. “I remember this time last year the city was awash with mayhem.”

“Tell me about it.” Robin said and when it was clear that no-one understood what he meant, he clarified. “No, really I want to know.”

“Same here,” Nightwing added.

“What is this, a story night?” Catwoman asked mockingly before allowing curiosity to get the better of her. “Go on, impress us, little girl.”

Batgirl began her story. It was the Halloween of the year before and the Scarecrow decided to play some of his old tricks at a luncheon that Bruce Wayne was hosting for Wayne Enterprises. The Scarecrow had poisoned the wine with his fear gas and attempted to take Bruce (one of the few who hadn’t drank) as a captive in order to get Batman to come out and play. 

When his henchmen weren’t paying enough attention, Barbara had used the opportunity to kill the light, giving Bruce enough of an opportunity to break away from the Scarecrow’s clutches and for both of them to enter the party as Batman and Batgirl alike.

The party certainly livened up as both Batman and Batgirl fought their way through frightened guests and the Scarecrow’s henchmen before finally apprehending Crane himself. Both had been prepared for the Scarecrow’s fear toxin this time around and Scarecrow himself had been sent to Arkham before the sun had even set. 

“Oh trust Crane to give a scare way before bedtime,” Nightwing said a little harshly remembering the times he had been victim to the Scarecrow’s fear gas. It was during one of his earlier days when he was Robin.

“I suppose you got something better?” Robin raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in Batgirl’s story but also intrigued by Nightwing’s reaction to the Scarecrow.

“Okay, kid, seeing as you asked,” Nightwing said and it was suddenly his turn to become storyteller to the unlikely group on the roof.

It had been about an hour after Batman’s run in with the Scarecrow and Dick Grayson was about to go on a date. It had been with someone he had been seeing for a few weeks, someone a little otherworldly and someone he thought that there might be a connection with. It was also someone he had not told Bruce or anyone else about. Not even Alfred.

As Dick was about to get ready to change into something nice for his date, he heard a commotion from the window and couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Killer Croc who had both Veronica Vreeland and her obnoxious friend, Pierce captive and was dragging them both down to the sewer.

Dick knew it would probably take too long for Bruce, Barbara or even Tim to get there on time, so he knew he had no choice but to go down the sewers himself if he stood a chance of saving them. Neither Veronica nor Pierce were particular favourites of Dick but neither of them deserved whatever kind of fate that Croc had in store for them.

Changing into his Nightwing costume, Dick headed down the sewers, staffs at the ready and another little surprise or two. Killer Croc had brute strength to his advantage. Along with his agility, Dick also knew that he needed to be smart as well. 

It didn’t take long for Dick to find either Croc or the socialites in question. Dick could hear Croc barking orders over a cell phone to Veronica’s father while Veronica and Pierce themselves were bound and gagged in a corner and terrified for their lives, especially when Croc threatened to send over body parts if Veronica’s father didn’t take his ransom demands seriously.

At the corner of his eye, Pierce spotted Nightwing and the latter motioned for him to hush. It was of no use as Croc had spotted Nightwing and a fight between the two quickly ensued. Dick did his best to get a few hits in with the staff even when Croc clawed at him and tried to drown him but with some quick thinking from Veronica who managed to kick Croc in the back, Nightwing was able to get the upper hand and sedate the villain before GCPD came to collect him for Arkham.

As both Veronica and Pierce thanked Nightwing in their own rather half hearted way and the former’s father seemed to eye the former Robin with a bit of suspicion, Dick realised that he was about a half an hour late for his date and in desperate need of a clean up. As he arrived back in his apartment, his date was already waiting for him.

“And what time do you call this, Mr Grayson?”

Dick smiled, knowing that he wouldn’t be going out after all.

“Horrible sewer monster and a love story at the end,” Catwoman scoffed cynically. “It’s almost like a fairytale. Much as you kids are amusing in your own little way, it’s your boss I’m more interested.”

“No kidding,” Robin said under his breath and both Nightwing and Batgirl gave him a look in agreement. Catwoman also gave him a look but it wasn’t one that seemed amused by his comment. It did however prompt Tim to share his own story from the year before.

“Seeing as you like bats so much, here’s one for you, Catwoman!”

The reason why Dick Grayson had to be the one to rescue Veronica and Pierce largely had something to do with the fact that Kirk Langstrom had been missing for a few hours. It seemed that when he refused to play ball with Roland Daggett, the latter decided to punish Langstrom by spiking his coffee and bringing about the monstrous ManBat yet again.

Francine had contacted Batman and Robin and both of them had taken to the skies to find ManBat while Nightwing had gone below to pursue Killer Croc. ManBat caused quite a scene as citizens were either horrified at the sight of a giant bat like creature roaming the skies on Halloween night or were desperately trying to take photographs and recordings of the creature.

Eventually things had led to a clock tower and it took everything both Batman and Robin had to make sure than no innocent civilian was caught in the crossfire or that Kirk himself was unharmed but restrained and cured.

When Kirk came round, he didn’t hesitate in telling the Dynamic Duo that Roland had been the one to cause his latest transformation and while Roland was slippery enough to have an airtight alibi, Batman made sure that Daggett knew that he would be watching him.

“That man,” Catwoman said and it didn’t take long to realise that she had left a scratch on the roof. Roland was still a sore spot for her. “Unfortunately there’s worse than him beginning to creep into this city. Now here’s a real horror story, kids.”

Catwoman had heard about the antics of the Scarecrow, Killer Croc and ManBat but each and every time she had tried to get to the scene of the crime, Batman and his little friends had already left. It just wasn’t her night, so she decided that there were probably some rich snobs she could loot from and if she happened to bump into a Dark Knight along the way, then the evening had a real chance of livening up.

Catwoman cased a few places before deciding on the perfect one. She had heard of Councilman Corcoran’s corrupt ways and while he managed to somehow rebuild his reputation after his involvement with the Judge or Two Face as the latter was revealed to be, Selina knew that this guy had not changed his ways. He was still a little bent, still working with some of the worst in the city but this time trying to be a bit more clever about it.

His willingness to get into bed with the worst meant that Corcoran could live very comfortably and people like him love to showcase their comfort at the expense of those less fortunate. Stealing from him would be an act of charity in itself. Then again, he’s just horrible and that was all the rationale that Catwoman needed.

What Catwoman wasn’t expecting was that Corcoran himself would still be home and when she quietly broke in through the window, what she was witnessing was something even she had not expected to see that night.

Corcoran had been strapped tightly to an operating table of sorts, begging and pleading for his life as a man wearing a pig mask and making some rather unnecessary honking noises as well had placed a strip of medical tape over the councilman’s mouth and told him to be quiet as he didn’t have a lot of anaesthetics and this was going to hurt a lot but when it was over, Corcoran would be perfect like the rest of his Dolls.

The whimsical manner in which this grotesque man was conveying this made Selina’s blood boil. She might have despised what the likes of Corcoran stood for as a person but as someone who had been experimented on herself a long time ago, she couldn’t just watch this happen to someone else or walk away. This was not her usual domain but with no Bat in sight, it was up to her to play hero, whether she liked it or not.

Catwoman raised her whip and managed to lasso it around Pyg’s neck, pulling him close enough so that she could elbow him in the face. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough to knock him out and the same cutting instrument that Pyg intended to use on Corcoran was now being aimed at her, forcing Catwoman to stumble back and lose her footing in order to dodge the blows.

This had gone on for long enough before the fight took place near the window and Pyg fell out, moments from imminent death due to the height until Catwoman decided to spare his life. When the police arrived, they found Corcoran still bound and gagged to the operating table whilst in the corner, Pyg had been hogtied, an apple shoved his mouth, his mask slashed to bits and a nice scratch on his face. Catwoman blew the arresting officers a little kiss before slipping out the window and into the night. While she had no intention of becoming a hero anytime soon, there was something that undeniably felt good about taking down a dangerous psychopath like Professor Pyg.

“He was gonna make Corcoran into a living doll?” Robin asked, not expecting that at all. “I think I’m gonna be a little bit sick.”

“I told you it was a horror story,” Catwoman purred before patting the latest Boy Wonder on the back. “Still though, it was quite the night.”

“Yeah, I think we’re gonna call it a night,” Batgirl said, before adding. “Nice to know you occasionally do put your talents to the right use.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Catwoman smiled and watched as Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin took their leave of the rooftop. 

The night was still young and there was still time to get one little crime in before the sun rose. Not just to get his attention but became she wanted to. However as she was about to take her leave off the roof, she soon realised that she wasn’t alone.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Catwoman smiled, turned around and saw that he was there. “Trick or treat?”

\---- The End ----


End file.
